Dropping the swaddle was a transition that I knew was coming, and was absolutely dreading. Vivian was finally starting to sleep better all snuggled up in her love to dream swaddle up that I mentioned in the favorite newborn products post. The recommendation of transitioning out of the swaddle is eight weeks, or at signs of rolling over; whichever comes first. I did bring this up at one of our pediatrician appointments, and the pediatrician was more on the side of when she starts rolling as that allowed more time in the swaddle and she mentioned that it would probably be closer to six months. After all, eight weeks seems very early to unswaddle! The startle reflex was still very much present at this stage.
I tried to wait as long as humanly possible, because I appreciated the sleep that I was getting, and also had a happy baby that was finally getting some good sleep! Though, it was always on the back of my mind that she could roll at any moment, and I would hate for the first time to be while I was asleep and possibly not notice. As a new mom, thoughts of doubt are constantly swirling around your mind.
Occasionally for some naps, we would leave Viv’s arms out, in a simple sleep sack if her swaddle was in the wash. She seemed to do okay, but that was for a much shorter time than over night.
I knew we needed to bite the bullet sooner than later and just go for it, because the longer we waited, it was only going to get harder. I had ordered the transitional swaddle up where the arms zipped off and assumed that I would first try one arm at a time. For whatever reason we didn’t end up going that route, but simply went cold turkey. It was actually one night when Mike was on baby duty, and I was trying to get some rest in the guest room that he just put her down for the night with the arms zipped off. Since we had done it one night, we figured we would keep going as to not confuse her.
I believe this was the week prior to Christmas and she was around three and a half months old. Since Mike had a couple of extra days off work, we thought that might be a good time to give this a try so that he could be more helpful during the night shift.
It was a rough transition to say the least. Vivian would flinch awake, and once she realized her arms were free, she would start flailing all over the place and could not calm herself back down. We would try to gently hold her arms down for a few moments while patting her chest in hopes to calm her back down. This seemed to work, but not long after she would awaken again and the cycle would continue. It was a long week, and it seemed like there was no light at the end of the tunnel. The reflex had to go away at some point… right?!
It seemed like the swaddle up with arms off wasn’t thick enough. We also had a fleece sleep sack by Halo that we tried. Perhaps she was cold, or maybe just didn’t feel cozy any longer. I had heard great things from friends about the Baby Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit, and toyed with the idea of getting this, but wasn’t keen on having another product to transition out of down the road.
Then, I remembered that we also had a transitional sleep sack that had long sleeves. It wasn’t restrictive, so was safe for rolling, but offered more warmth. She seemed to like this a little bit better and had a few decent nights of sleep here and there.
Fast forward a week or two and sleep was still so inconsistent. We had hit the four month sleep regression and felt like we were awake constantly. It almost felt like the newborn stage and I was desperate for some sleep. I went on Facebook marketplace to see if anyone was selling the magic merlin sleep suit, and luckily, a local mom was for a great deal! I was able to go pick it up that same day and get it washed all before bedtime. We did however choose to test it out for a nap the next day first, versus trying it overnight for the very first time.
While the Magic Merlin sleep suit didn’t prove to be completely magic for us, it did seem to help get a little bit better sleep. Some friends have said their baby started sleeping twelve hours once they had the suit, and that was certainly not the case for us, but less wakings was still a win in my book. So between the Magic Merlin suit, which I like to call her super suit, or our little marshmallow baby, and the Halo transitional sleep sack, I think we have a couple of great options that are helping us on this lovely sleep journey.
The Merlin Sleep Suit is safe to wear until they can roll over in the suit. I’m hoping by the time she gets this down, her startle reflex will be gone so that it won’t be much of a transition out. We also make sure to use this intermittently with the Halo transitional sack that way she hopefully won’t be too used to just this outfit whenever we do need to make the switch. Hopefully she will happily sleep in a regular sleep sack one day, but for now we are grateful for these wonderful products!
Hopefully one day this will all be a vague memory of the past, but currently our life revolves around trying to get Little Miss Vivian to have a good night sleep.
Laugh Often – Rachel
Simply Stoops 